Henk Bos appointed honorary professor at the University of Aarhus

The renowned science historian Henk Bos, former professor at Utrecht University, has been appointed honorary professor of the history of mathematics at the Faculty of Science, the University of Aarhus.

Professor Bos is a highly respected, world-renowned researcher in the history of mathematics. He took up an appointment at the Department of Mathematics at Utrecht University in 1971 and was professor of the history of mathematics from 1985 until he retired in 2005. Both as an author and as a teacher, Professor Bos has had considerable influence on the development and understanding of the history of mathematics, and a number of his former students now represent a new generation of mathematics historians. His numerous publications and international career – including his activities outside the circle of professional mathematics historians – have expanded on the understanding of the development of mathematics and how mathematicians worked in the past. In 2005, his colleagues awarded him the prestigious Kenneth O. May Medal.

Professor Bos has worked on subjects such as the mathematical works of the seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes, including Descartes’ contribution to the development of algebra and geometry. He has set new standards for the way in which the mathematicians of earlier periods can and should be read, and which questions can be asked of their works.

Professor Bos will be attached to the Steno Institute, where the history of mathematics is one of the subjects researched and taught.

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The university can award the title “honorary professor” to people we wish to acknowledge for their high level of academic proficiency, at the same time as creating closer ties that lead to mutual inspiration and collaboration.An honorary professor normally holds lectures and takes part in research projects.